Sandy dropped her schoolbag beside the desk. There was a CD player sitting on the corner of the desk. It also functioned as a radio and a clock. Aside from the desk, there was also a pair of cupboards and a double-decker bed. There were cardboard boxes on the cupboards and under the metal-frame bed.
The girl added her watch, wallet and that fortune card of hers to the clutter of stationery on the desk. Then she lay down on the bottom bunk of the bed.
The corner room was too small for her. It would not be so cramped if she did not have to share it with Celeste. Juneida, her other housemate, had a smaller room. But it was a room that the other girl had all to herself after her previous roommate had moved out over the summer.
That was Sandy's life, a life of lacking. If she had her promised wealth, she could get herself a bigger room. She would fill it with new furniture, not like the ones in her room that had peeling lacquer, scratch marks at the corners and stab holes on the surface.
Where had the stab marks come from!?
And she would have proper storage for the belongings she kept in the cardboard boxes. She would get a better bed with a comfortable mattress, not the old one on which she lay on. Her mattress had a depression right in the middle from years of use. She would have sunk into it if it were not for the duvet and mattress protector.
And of course, there were all those fashionable clothes she could buy, things she would admire in magazines that Celeste sometimes brought back. More cupboards would be needed for those. She would get herself a car and a driver so she would be able to dress fancily to school instead of her usual outfit for riding. Not having to cycle, she could wear a skirt to school!
Then there was food. Momma Lois's cooking was not bad but she sometimes craved for something yummier. The cool sweetness of ice cream, the bitterness of chocolate, the rich flavors of a well-done steak - luxurious food that she drooled for even as she thought about them.
Sandy sighed and selected some clean clothes from her cupboard. She stepped out of her room. Just as she reached for the bathroom doorknob, she heard the shower start.
To her disbelief, Juneida was back and had already claimed the bathroom! Sandy hurried back to her room for a look at the clock on the CD player. Had she been dreaming for that long!?
She would have to wait for Juneida to be done.
***
Sandy was in the living room, watching the television with little Petra.
It was that cluttered but comfortable place in her home that she liked to relax in after finishing her chores. There were two comfort chairs, one of which Sandy sat on, and a sofa. There was also Petra's cradle, a bookcase and a display case with mementos of previous residents. Little Petra sat quietly on the carpet before the television.
On one corner of the living room, on a desk, was the computer that the girls shared. There was no chair for the desk - one had to be carried from the dining room - and the keyboard was stowed away while it was not in use so that the toddler Petra would not play on the computer.
Otherwise, the toddler could get addicted to the online world.
Celeste had used the computer for homework and the occasional research. Sandy had used it to type out her assignments back in middle school and she expected to do the same in high school, once the teachers asked for essays and reports to be done. Momma Lois had her own computer in her office, which she had used for administration.
Juneida had her own laptop. Ooh, Sandy was envious that that girl had an uncle to buy her gifts.
Momma Lois came into the living room. "Sandy, don't you have homework to do?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm just resting for a moment," Sandy replied. Dinner was just over and she had just helped wash and dry the dishes.
Momma Lois placed her hands at her sides. "Sandra Gould! You always say that and you'll say that an hour later! Get your homework done first, then you can rest all you want." She sighed. "Why can't you be like June and study without me asking!?"
Sandy pulled herself out of the comfortable chair she was sitting in. "Aww, Momma, you know I can't study or do my homework without you asking me to."
"That's why I ask you now!" her guardian retorted.
Sandy wished that she had another few more relaxing minutes in that well-worn comfort chair. However, Momma Lois was not one she dared disobey, not for long. Thus, she obediently went upstairs to do her homework.
(Little did Sandy realize that Momma Lois had sent the girl away on purpose. The older woman wanted to spend some time alone with Petra. One of the more enjoyable perks of her job was quality time with the little ones, while they were still small and cute like the toddler Petra, before they grew up to be lazy and rebellious like Sandy.)
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